Batman is back, yet he’s not as well-known as he used to be. Set a few years before Arkham Asylum, the next game in the Batman trilogy brings players to the past, allowing them to relive Batman’s younger days when he was still unknown to the Joker. Developer WB Games Montréal attempted to capture the feel of the first two Arkham games, and truly took the prize when it came to the fighting system. Batman still has all of his old weapons in his tool belt, such as the battarang and grapple hook.

The story utilizes many themes that were present in The Dark Knight. During the entire plot, developers decided to toy around with Batman’s killing, making him seem hesitant to take anyone’s life away. Batman has a $50 million bounty on his head and is forced to face many villains in order to clear his name.

The fighting present in the game is fantastic as always and introduces two new enemies that were not present in older games. For instance, a martial artist can counter your attacks. A new piece of gear is also introduced, one of the last to be unlocked in the story. Shock gauntlets are an easy way to take down many enemies at once, allowing for Batman to make the crowds scatter and kill off a few enemies in close vicinity. Batman can ignore everything that makes combat fun as well, such as riot shields, shock batons, and armor.

Although the plot starts on Christmas Eve, Gotham City’s streets are empty, giving the player an eerie feeling while roaming in the snow-covered open world.

Overall, the strongest part of Origins is its boss fights. Using unique animations and tricky, puzzling tactics, boss battles invite anticipation while going through the storyline. The boss battles truly grasp the feeling that a Batman fight should. All fights encourage the player to be constantly on the move, which is a challenge to most.

Batman-Arkham Origins is an overall strong prequel to Asylum and City; it truly captures the feel of the original Batman. The game is definitely an interesting one to pick up and will leave players waiting for the next one.